Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The first thing I did this year was remove the Ralph Lauren pelmet and drapes in my bedroom (compliments of the previous owner) and replace them with linen drapes. I also repainted my bedroom from dingy gold to (oddly) brighter gray.

Before:

After:

The sitting area, before (and before I cleaned :-):

After (please ignore ribbons on topiaries; from holidays):

Problem: now I don't like the color. It's BM Revere Pewter and it's greenish gray. The bathroom is limestone with Coastal Fog walls (also a greenish gray) with off-white trim. Here's the master bath:

The hall leading to the bedroom is white but up the stairs is that goldish wallpaper so the gray clashes.

I want to repaint it this color or sort of a French Gray. Thoughts? Color recommendations? Comments?

31 comments:

First of all, great job on all the changes you've made. Such an improvement! Second, I have Revere Pewter in my bedroom and I still love it (and I have tons of gold accents, as you can imagine), but I know it looks different in different lighting/living conditions. So, I would suggest trying the BM Color Viewer online and flipping through the grays. I've heard lots of good things about Bunny Gray as a cooler but still neutral gray. Or maybe Nimbus Gray?

if you go to my store website (pillowmint.net) click on the "about us" tab. the second picture has a good shot of the wall.actually the store doesn't have very good light - the gray just works! good luck!

In the sitting room I think the white shelf above the black tile of the fireplace should be removed and just have drywall down to the fireplace....much more contemporary. More visually appealing? Then two black or dark floor lamps on each side of the sofa with a very intersting and sturdy "something" for a coffee table. The lamps would balance the dark color of the fireplace and the coffee table will give it all some punch. What do you think?

We painted our entire house practically in Ralph Lauren "Polaris" gray. I absolutely loved it. It was the perfect neutral. Now we're in a new house with tan "burnt cashew" colored walls and I am not loving it. Itching to paint it something else but gray won't work here.

At least Mahogany Man allowed for the painting of the shelf, or didn't insist on having it stripped off. Mine is always keening about "don't paint wood, you never paint woooooooood." Not that I listen, much.

I really like the changes you've made so far and loooove that zebra rug.

Actually, I painted the living room, including all the paneling and moldings in Revere Pewter when we first moved here and it appeared taupier in that room. Everybody hated it except me. I should have stood my ground.

I found a grey I love -- Ralph Lauren Boulder Grey. Not a pretty name, but a wonderful color... very 'dry' grey & NO GREEN. Using it in my kitchen, w/ slate tile floors, white woodwork & carrera countertops.

Well, it looks like you've gone to the paint store already. If you happen to pass a Sherwin Williams, grab a chip of Modern Gray. I've been planning for painting in case a miracle occurs here and so far it's my favorite.

Actually in the pictures, I really like the gray you have, but maybe it's just my monitor.

HG, My bedroom faces Northeast, so all grays tend to go cool in there. Actually, I think because I have really warm oak floors, grays tend to read bluer all over my house. I read somewhere that gray appears as complimentary to whatever color it's up against. So, if I had blue floors, the gray would probably appear much warmer, if that makes sense.

The BM color viewer isn't perfect by any means, but it helps to see which way a shade will skew and it's usually pretty accurate in terms of density.

And I just finished repainting the nursery... again. I'm ready to start up the serial repainter's club whenever you are!

Despite that you don't love the gray the transformation is wonderful. Such a nice change. Don't get discouraged. You'll find a great color. I'm sitting next to a table of about 25 paint chips as I type this. Part of me wants to just close my eyes and grab one and go with it.

I want to joing the serial repainter's club too! I'm just so glad I'm not alone, because my husband thinks I'm crazy for wanting to repaint anything. He's much like mahogany man - doesn't want to paint wood surfaces, and wondered what was wrong with the white (bad) paint job inside our house when we moved in!

I'm wanting to go more neutral in my living room, and am planning a guerilla painting job the next time hubby's out of town on business. I know it sounds mean, but I don't want to deal with all the "Why"'s and complaints. I figure if it's done when he gets back, there's not much he can do about it!! Plus, I know he'll like it.